Azumanga Shadow of Daioh
by skandergoon
Summary: A S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl and Azumanga Daioh crossover Fan Fiction. One mistake leads to an indefinite decent into hell. Under constant siege how can they survive in the zone of alienation?
1. Outcast

Tomo, Kagura, and Yomi sat near their small fire. Osaka curled up, sleeping in the corner.

As Chiyo and Sakaki sat in the rafters above watching the surrounding countryside for movement.

The fire crackled as the light flicked on the battered brick walls.

But the area was still eerily quite...

"How the hell did I end up here?" Said Tomo with genuine confusion in her voice.

"You tell me dumbass your the one who dragged us into this!" It was all Yomi could do not to rip her head off were she sat.

"Seriously Tomo its bad enough when you make yourself look like a crackhead, but when you fuck up and get us involved it's another story"

"I said i was sorr-"

"WE COULD DIE OUT HERE AND YOUR SORRY!?"

"Oh just leave me alone i know i messed up... badly-"

"REALLY badly." Yomi cut in.

Tomo started again "But screaming in my face won't do any good"

Yomi looked away and said "Be quite and see if Nimble showed up yet,"

"AY AY captain!" Said Tomo cheerfuly.

"What the hell did i just say?" Yomi snapped.

"Let it go Yomi" Said Kagura flatly.

A sheet of silence fell over the graveyard stillness of the broken down car park.

When something moved down the road near a tunnel barricaded with slabs of concrete and and cars.

Chiyo picked up on it immediately.

"Ah... Sakaki-san?"

Sakaki awoke from a trance and looked over.

"Come here. I think I see something,"

As she crawled over the movement came again only this time there was more.

Concerned, Chiyo pointed to what was moving "There, i don't think that it's another dog."

"No it doesn't look like it." She said.

When Tomo broke the silence with "Look who i found near the gate!" Dragging Nimble in by his arm.

Yomi began "The trader said you had something?"

Nimble looked up. "Yeah. _This _is what he wanted."He said holding up a flash drive."

"What's that?" Tomo asked.

"It's a flash drive I snagged from the bandits. It's got all the info on their stashes, targets, and orders for the next few months."

"So that's what he wanted?" Yomi said.

"Yup."

Yomi seeming a bit more calm said "Good now we can leave"

Chiyo realizing what she was seeing panicked, looked down at the group and wailed "Get ready! Bandits are coming!"

Kaguras eyes widened "Damn, Osaka wake up!" She said as she jabbed Osaka into consciousness.

They grabbed their rifles and tried to get ready for the bandits, but it was too late. They were all over the park.

A bandit cried out "Hey! There's nimble get 'em!"

Nimble looked over "Shit, RUN!"

Sakaki not wasting a second grabbed Chiyo, jumped out a hole in the slanted roof, landed, and ran.

The others not far behind jumped the fence surrounding the house and garage then sprinted away, brush crunching underfoot.

They reached the underpass in a nearby road when they realized that Nimble wasn't there.

"Where'd nimble go?" Tomo said.

Quickly the girls ran to the top of the road to see.

Kagura grabbed her binoculars to look around the park. "Yup they got him"

"What do we do?" Chiyo said.

"Well there must be 20 of them so we take a vote" Kagura said "All in favor of saving him?

Chiyo, Tomo , and Yomi raised there hands.

"All opposed?"

Sakaki and Osaka put there hands up.

Kagura paused "Then here we go." She said.

Chiyo grabbed the radio and climbed a tree to keep watch over the park while the others crept up on the bandits.

Kagura and Tomo snuck up on the garage in the back and waited for the signal.

Yomi and Osaka nodded at Tomo in the moment they could spare between bandit patrols strolling around only a few feet away.

When Sakaki finally snuck in to the gatehouse in front she motioned back to Chiyo that she was ready.

Quietly the radio began to crackle. "Okay on my mark, you guys open fire on them." Chiyo said.

"Gotcha." "Okay." "Sure." "On it." "Huh?"

Assuming Osaka heard what she said Chiyo began to count down

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO!"

Instantly gunshots broke the silence of the car park.

Already 4 bandits laid on the ground dead.

Just as Yomi leveled her rifle for another shot the bandits caught on and fired back.

A terrifying bang as bricks fell of of place as a cloud of buckshot smacked the wall next to Osaka.

She fired back and one less bandit stood between them and Nimble.

10 minutes later 8 bandits left. A massive roar sounded from the last house. Soon 5 bandits raised their shotguns and charged.

"GO!" Yomi called as the others ran.

Without ammunition and pushed from the car park they walked back to the abandoned village established as the newbie camp.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" The trader barked.

"Nimble was taken prisoner." Sakaki admitted head hung low.

"GAH useless! All of you!"

He paused.

"Ok" The trader began.

"You are of no help then. So leave. Just get out of here" The man went on.

"What?" Tomo blurted out.

"Are you deaf woman? I said leave this camp!" He turned his back.

The three where of taken back by the outburst.

"Just go north to the garbage, you can't miss it. It's crowded with monstrous piles of junk. I'm sure you'll find someone there who'll help you 'cause I sure as hell ain't."

With no other choices they packed what little gear they had and set out north.


	2. Transition

Author's Note.

* * *

I wasn't at all pleased with my last chapter mostly due the fact I explained WAAAYY too little. I may have wanted the overall reason that everyone is in Chernobyl to be a mystery, but I never explained who Nimble was, the motive of the bandits, or why Chiyo was sitting in a damn tree. So from now on i'm taking more than 3 hours to write my chapters. Enjoy! (Respectively I will answer those questions. A man who was to meet with the girls and give them a flash drive with important information of some type. The bandits were robbed of the secret info on the flash drive by Nimble want to take it back. Chiyo refusing to fight serves as a spotter and relays information to the others.)

The sun was finally setting on the landscape.

Yomi had suggested that moving at night would have made it much easier to evade a major confrontation with the Russian military guarding the dangerous "zone".

Osaka who was on guard duty that night shook the others awake.

"The sun is setting guys." She said in her normal dazed accent.

Chiyo was the first to really get ready to move out.

"Good." Chiyo said with only a tinge of discomfort.

"The earlier we start moving the further we can get."

Yomi woke up next, "Did any more bandits try to chase us last night?" She said concerned because of last nights incident.

"I'm not sure I slept through most of the night" Osaka said scratching her blushing cheek.

"B- But you were on guard duty..." Kagura said eyes suddenly very wide.

"Sorry I just dozed off" Osaka said tilting her head.

Kagura knew no matter how many times she told her to stay vigilant Osaka couldn't remember anything."Whatever." She settled for.

Sakaki awoke without a sound as usual.

All was peaceful... or at least quite as the Abandoned house they slept in that night was unsettling to say the least

Once again Tomo awoke with an audible bang as she smacked into the slanted roof above her head.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" She went on with as she clutched her head.

"Stop sleeping so close to the damn wall if want that to stop." Yomi growled.

"I will change for no one!" Tomo claimed already beyond her painful experience.

"Tomo-chan you must be quiet!" Chiyo said covering the wildcat's mouth.

They took their Kevlar and jackets from the packs they where given by the trader when they first arrived.

The sun finally safely behind the hills, They packed their gear and crept away from the makeshift home.

With no flashlights or headlamps that signaled approaching soldiers or other makeshift troops calling themselves "STALKER's". The girls were able to press forward unimpeded.

After a only an hour of skulking in the brush, they reached another stalker camp.

Uncertain of the allegiance of the stalkers they proceeded with caution.

"Hello... My name is Mihama Chiyo... umm..." The fearful Chiyo began.

"She wants to know who's side you guys are on!" Tomo exclaimed.

Yomi sighed and bowed her head.

A stalker stood up and said "Nobodies side I suppose, but do people really use your real names here?"

Osaka began "Of course!" She said happily "I'm no liar." Some snickering arose form the circle of stalkers.

The same stalker said "Well using your real name is unnecessary especially with such strange names."

Stalkers being predominantly Russian or Ukrainian, Japanese names were completely unheard of amongst their ranks.

"Then what do we call ourselves?" Kagura asked.

"Well you could use a stalker name. For example my stalker name is Stretch."

"Then I am Sir Melon!" Osaka announced.

"No you're not." Yomi told her.

But from the look on Osaka's face she didn't listen.

Chiyo still waiting for her chance to speak finally saw her opportunity.

"Umm... Which way to the "Garbage"?

"Oh just follow this road north to those gigantic piles of irradiated junk."

"Thanks alot!" Tomo called out already walking down the road with the man had pointed out for them.

"Wait up!" Called Kagura.

They had finally arrived at the infamous "garbage". Towering piles of discarded machinery and rubble dominated the area, accompanied by distant gunfire and growls of strange creatures affected by the residual effects of the accident long ago.

The group silently moved along the road only a few feet a away in the brush.

"The sun is going to rise soon." Yomi said

She was right. The eastern sky was turning a bright orange which ment they needed to find shelter quickly.

"There!" Tomo pointed to a near by junkyard.

"I see a bus in there that looks okay. May be we can stay there tonight."

"Yeah but I also see a bunch of stalkers that may not be friendly." Yomi argued.

"So maybe we can just sneak in and nobody will ever know." Kagura suggested.

"And what if those guys are bandits and they think to check the bus at some point in the day?" Said Yomi.

"Well i'm going for it and if you guys wanna' come with then you can follow me" Tomo said, walking away to the bus.

Yomi unwillingly followed as the others had already accompanied Tomo to the bus.

They wove past stalker patrols into the bus just as the sun rose and flooded the junkyard with light light.

As it turned out the bus was a perfect place to hide. Every window was either painted over or dirty to point that almost no light could enter.

"It doesn't seem like we need anyone keeping watch tonight." Said Chiyo.

"Looks like it." Tomo said already half asleep.

* * *

They drifted to sleep quickly. They had walked almost 15 miles knees bent 90 degrees or more the entire time, and it was obvious how tired they where.

Author's Note.

That's it chapter 2 is in the can. No pulse pounding gun fights or sniper hunts just arriving at the garbage and making camp for the night. Please read on because this is gonna get epic.


	3. First Blood

Only seconds ago the junkyard home was actually peaceful. Quiet, sun setting, and fire crackling from outside the makeshift home.

Suddenly a roar of gunfire and ricocheting bullets conquered the airwaves.

"What the hell?" Yomi shrieked. "Get on the floor!"

Without a moment of pause to fully awaken, everyone hugged the floor of the once safe bus.

A particularly close shot sounded as a pane of glass on the side of the bus shattered and rained everyone in a cloud of broken glass.

Refusing to sit still and wait to be shot Sakaki sprang into action and kicked open a door to the presumably safe exterior.

Without a word she scrabbled through the exit and motioned the others to follow.

As more and more bullets reduced the hulk to indistinguishable junk, the senses of the new-found soldiers were completely overwhelmed leaving nothing, but angry shudders and curses to leave the their mouths.

Once again luck was on the side of the girls as under a veil of darkness the escaped the deathtrap.

"What... the hell was that?" Tomo said struggling for a breath.

"Looks like bandits." Chiyo said squinting at the men who had just tried to kill them.

A bullet hit the toll gate they hid behind in a high pitched scream.

"I don't think they notice us yet." Osaka deduced as no further gun fire followed the original impact.

"Shit! I didn't grab my pack!" Kagura exclaimed. "We gotta go back, I had all the food!"

"What?!" Chiyo yelled.

"Crap I left my gun in there too!" Tomo added.

"Then we have to go back for it." Yomi said.

Sakaki stood an said "I'll go."

"How are you gonna do that?" Osaka asked.

"Don't worry about me." She said before she slipped underneath a rusted shell of a car.

She peered out the opposite end of the car as the black boots of whatever aggressive force attacked the camp.

As the bandits passed she crept out and moved to tractor and hid under the massive tires for only a moment before emerging only a few feet from the bus now riddled with holes and rubble.

She pounced the remaining distance just as some rounded the corner and noticed her entry.

The bandit ran to the door and stomped in.

The two where now in there own world.

Sakaki hid under a bus seat, while the bandit cautiously crept about the bus.

The man noticed a 12. gauge shotgun and a pack of canned meat and ammunition on the floor.

"Well well well what do we have here?" He said.

As he bent over Sakaki saw the opportunity to tackle him, rob him of his AK-47, grab Tomo's shotgun and Kagura's pack and run.

Not bothering with her original stealthy route she simply ran back to the group.

Only feet from her friends her right leg gave out and she tumbled to ground.

"Sakaki!!" The group screamed.

As her friends grabbed the things Sakaki had just dropped, Yomi and Tomo Were now dragging her away from the junkyard.

She felt frozen, yet limp as she was dragged across the road to a clearing behind a few trees.

When she was laid on the ground she looked down and realized why she had fallen.

She had been shot in her right leg.

She looked around and noticed everyone panic and rush for medical supplies.

Yet she heard nothing.

She knew she was in shock as she felt herself become colder and colder.

"Oh god, Osaka wheres the damn antibiotic?!" Kagura yelled.

Chiyo walked over "I found the gauze."

"Good, Osaka! The antibiotic!" Yomi pointed as Osaka walked over.

"Is this it?" Osaka asked with a look of terror.

"No but it'll do." Yomi said, taking the bottle and pouring the contents of it on Sakaki's wound.

Tomo who had been until now keeping Sakaki's leg up yelled "Chiyo wrap her leg now!"

Chiyo nodded and tightly wrapped what the cloth around her thigh.

"Lets get the hell out of here!" Yomi Yelled taking one of Sakaki's arms.

"Go go go!" Tomo screamed taking her other arm.

After a few minutes of aimlessly fleeing the area the finally reached a broken down building.

It looked as though it had been bombed and only one half stood over a monstrous pit in the ground.

A massive concrete slab that once formed a floor of the structure now served as a giant rocky cave that provided excellent refuge.

"Okay... okay... we made it." Tomo said between gasping for air.

"Yeah." Said Kagura. "How's she doin'?"

"She'll be okay I think." Yomi sighed with relief.

Osaka as though she remembered something. "Ah! Yomi, What was in that bottle I handed you?"

She also jumped as she remembered that moment.

"Where'd you get that bottle?" She said sounding very serious.

"Tomo-chan's bag."

"Why did you have vodka in your bag?"

Osaka seemed surprised. "You had vodka?"

Tomo completely shocked, sat up. "Ehh... I can explain"

"Go ahead then" Yomi said sounding a little angry now.

"I thought it would burn well..." Tomo said. "And I wanted to try and make one of those Molotov cocktails that that trader told me about."

Yomi now less angry and more confused asked. "Why did you even want to make one of those?"

"It could be useful!" She said defensively.

Yomi sighed. "Whatever reason you _really_ had that crap, it may have saved Sakaki so I guess I'll stop asking about it."

Chiyo walked over. "It's still dark out. We shouldn't waste this time."

"Chiyo's right." Said Tomo. "We only have a few precious hours of night left and we need to use them to our advantage."

"Absolutely." Kagura said tossing Tomo her shotgun and grabbing the machine gun that Sakaki had liberated from the bandit. "Chiyo set up your radio. Me and Tomo are going to see what's around here."

"Excellent." Tomo said happily.

**3 Hours Later**

Yomi and Osaka had finally started a fire. Sakaki still passed out from the experience a few hours back. While Chiyo sat near that radio she kept in her pack to stay in touch with the others if they where ever separated.

"Chiyo? Chiyo you still there?" came over the radio in a static voice.

"Ah. Yes I'm here."

"We see something over here." Came Tomo's voice. "It looks like a stalker camp, but it's weird. It's not like all the others. They all have black uniforms and some symbol on their shoulders."

"So they're with the military?"

"No its not some military patch, it's like a red bull's-eye."

"Do they look friendly?" Chiyo asked.

"They might be. They just let some guy in green Kevlar through."

"We may need to go over there tomorrow. Okay just come on back until then."

"Gotcha" Tomo finished.

**Morning**

That day was a strange one to begin with as the original plan to move at night and sleep all day was abandoned in favor of keeping Sakaki safe.

"How's the stretcher?" Osaka said in the same daze as usual.

"It seems to work." Sakaki said nodding at her.

Before then had fallen asleep that night they managed to make a stretcher out of some pipes and Sakaki's old jacket.

The camp they had seen last night was just down an old road broken by the unusually resilient plant life in the zone.

As they approached the camp, they were stopped by a few stalkers who seemed more like standard military than anything else.

"Stop. What is your business here?" one of the men said, words muffled by his mask.

"We have someone who's hurt we need to come through here." Yomi told the guard.

"We get people in here like that all the time, and we cant just buy every story from someone who just happens to be bleeding."

"Are you kidding me? She's been shot we need to treat the wound with a little more than vodka and gauze." Yomi argued.

"Listen! If you wanna come through here so badly then you'll have to make worth our while."

Tomo stepped up. "Fine then what the hell do you want?"

"We hear that some bandits have a stash filled with weapons not to far from here, and I think we need it more than them."

"So we just get it and we can come through?" Tomo asked.

"That's it." The guard said.

Kagura grabbed the AK-47. "You guys stay here. I'll get the guns."

Yomi walked over. "No Sakaki went to do something alone and she got shot so we're not going to do anything alone anymore.

"Good idea" Kagra handed Yomi her rifle. "Lets go."

"Where are those guns you wanted?"

The guard pointed to a cave in some near-by cliffs. "Follow that cave to the other side from there you'll see a big factory. _That_ is where all those weapons are."

"That's it?" Tomo asked.

The guard nodded. "That's it."

"Then let's go." said Yomi.


	4. Army of Two

**Authors Note**

I have made a reference to an AK-47 which if you don't know is a fully-automatic assault rifle, fully automatic meaning it is a machine gun. I'm about to make a reference to a bolt-action and an MP5.

A bolt-action rifle is a gun action that requires the user to remove an empty shell from the gun before it can be fired again. An MP5 is a sub-machine gun that is REALLY common across the world. So that's just a little explanation. Enjoy!

They emerged form he pitch dark tunnel into the harsh light of midday.

Soon they wished they had stayed in the only slightly more forgiving cave.

What they saw was a disturbing valley, darkened by dead trees and a smoggy overcast.

Only a rusted factory stood out in the uninviting forest.

Kagura stood and stared at the deathly terrain before her.

"This doesn't look good."

"Not even a little." Yomi said. "Let's get the weapons and leave as soon as we can."

"No shit." said Kagura as she followed Yomi towards the hulking structure.

**1 year prior. Okinawa, Japan.**

In her usual fashion of never wanting to hold still, Tomo had left to explore the city.

It was late and after several hours of wandering the city, she decided to finally return to the hotel that her and her friends were assigned to for their trip.

Half way back when she noticed a small shop with barred windows and a burnt-out neon light.

"What the hell? It might be kinda cool." She thought.

She opened the door and the place reeked of cheap cigars and the distinct smell of old, ignored wood.

The walls were filled with random objects from guitars to machetes.

It became obvious to her that it was a pawn shop.

A knife stood out in her mind as she walked around the store.

It had a leather handle and a dull steel blade that bent back and forth in shallow grooves maybe 6 times.

Soon she walked up the counter with it.

Behind a pane of glass and what looked like chain link fencing stood a man in a gray suit and sunglasses.

"Hey how much for this thing?" She asked.

Not looking up from the magazine he said "4,000,000 yen."

"What?!" Tomo said without thinking.

"You heard me." Looking her in the face now. "4,000,000 yen or you can leave."

"But, It's just a knife"

"Listen that thing is old and I mean _old_. I'm bein' nice letting you have it for that much now take it or leave it."

"Fine I'll put it back." She said.

At the shelf where it sat she noticed the man had left his caged booth.

She thought for a moment before retracting her hand, sliding the knife into pocket in her jacket and walking out the door.

**Present Day. Chernobyl, Ukraine.**

The factory, behind a 7 foot tall concrete with a guarded wrought iron gate in front was now only a few trees and a road away.

"We need a new way in." Kagura said.

"Yeah." Yomi said staring at the fortress.

"Let's try the back."

Yomi nodded.

As hoped for a piece of the wall had fallen out of position and a large space was now in the wall near the ground.

Kagura looked through the hole "Nothin' go ahead."

Yomi crawled through followed shortly by Kagura.

A guard stood at the corner of the factory taking a break for a cigarette.

He had a sub-machine gun leaned against the building.

Kagura and Yomi looked at each other and realized the same thing.

They crept up to the guard silently.

Within arms reach now Yomi grabbed the man and covered his mouth.

They dragged him back to a dark corner behind the factory.

"How many of you are there here." Yomi asked.

"About 8 including me." The bandit told her without a fight.

"Okay, someone told me you guys have a big stash of weapons around here, where are they?"

He pointed to the corner they had just snatched the man from. "Over there and on the right there's a fire escape. If you go up there you should see a ladder on the left. Go down that and they should be right there."

"Any guards on the way?"

"Just Sidorovich on the roof and he's usually asleep."

Yomi pushed the man away and drove the heel of her palm into the base of the guards neck.

He fell to the pavement, unconscious in a pile of useless limbs.

"I got you something." Kagura said before throwing Yomi her new MP5.

"Nice." Said Yomi.

They put their guns into their shoulders and crept towards the stairs the bandit mentioned.

They slowly and quietly ascended the stairs, weapons at-ready.

Kagura peaked over the roof and saw a another guard, curled up with a sniper rifle.

They quietly moved past him and to the ladder right where it was supposed to be.

At the bottom was a room of rusted old machines and a few open crates filled with rifles and machine guns.

"Do we need to take all of this?" Kagura asked gaping at the weaponry.

"They can't expect us to bring them this whole stash." Yomi said.

"Yeah so lets just fill our packs and lets go."

"Sounds good."

Quietly they stuffed the guns into the backpacks until both where full.

"Who are you?" came from the door way.

Both the girls looked up.

A puzzled bandit stood in the door staring.

"Well? Who are you?" he asked slowly reaching for his gun.

Finally Kagura unslung her AK-47 and pulled the trigger.

The gun shook in time with loud, dull bangs.

The man flinched as minor clouds of blood came from the bullet wounds.

He hit the floor.

The two stared at the slain guard for a moment before a siren blared through the structure.

"Damn" Yomi said before swing the pack full of weapons over her shoulder.

They got their guns ready as they ran for the ladder at the top of the ladder the once sleeping rifleman had awoken and now scanned the courtyard below.

Ignoring him the two ran down the fire escape.

As they hit the ground they where greeted by a hail of gunfire from an angry bandit.

Yomi put the gun in her shoulder and shot back as the stepped backwards.

Neither of two hitting their target Yomi and Kagura got around the corner of the building and crawled back through the open wall.

They sprinted back to the cave already across the road from where they came when a bullet narrowly missed Kagura and made a high pitched whine as it tore past her ear.

"Run faster damn it!" She yelled.

Finally they behind a rock to catch their breath.

But now the sniper knew exactly where they where and the two had very little room to move.

"What now?" Kagura asked.

"I- I dunno." Yomi said panting.

The two thought.

"Just run?" Kagura asked.

"No we'd get shot in a second."

"I got it!" Kagura said with an idea.

Before the escape she noticed the guards gun and saw the rifle had a bolt action.

She ran from the cover of the rock and suddenly stopped, and as she thought the sniper fired and needed a moment to load another round in his rifle.

"Go!" She called as Yomi jumped to her feet and bolted into the cave.


	5. Escape Plan

The stalkers called "Duty" had let the girls through the checkpoint to the collection of miserable warehouses and abandoned factories that Duty had called home.

"Jeez, what a dump." Tomo said unaware that several armed Dutiers were adjacent.

"Well at least it's safe and we can get the supplies we need." Yomi sighed.

"Yeah... HEY! YOU THERE!" Tomo said waving to a passing stalker.

"What?" the tired stalker asked angrily.

Tomo opened her mouth before being interrupted by Kagura.

"We were looking for the bar."

"Just head through there and it's on the right." He said pointing to an empty garage.

"Thanks." Tomo said,

"Sure." Said the stalker less angry with exhaustion still evident.

They carried their wounded friend through the garage and down a flight of stairs underground.

"Well it sure is a bar." Yomi said looking around the place.

A large bar stood on the right as many tired stalkers stood around it groaning for food.

They walked up.

Yomi looked at Sakaki's leg and then at the bartender.

Tomo lunged at the bar. "Hey!" She said overly cheerful considering the situation. "My friend needs some... Ehh Yomi what does Sakaki need exactly?"

Yomi sighed. "We need some clean bandages and some antiseptic."

The bartender looked over. "Sure." He said in a deep, yet welcoming voice.

He bent down under the bar and picked up a bright red box.

"That'll be 150 rubles."

Osaka dug in her pocket for the money and pulled out 43 rubles, a ball of lint, 6 yen, and an empty shotgun shell.

"Umm... We need more."

Yomi also dug for some money but came back with nothing.

She looked to the others.

Tomo shrugged. "The damn trader didn't pay us."

They panicked looking for some money.

"I'll get that." Said an unknown voice.

They looked at the man who spoke up.

"Sure thing." The bartender said pulling out 5 new medkits from under the counter.

Kagura looked at the anonymous contributor. "What's with the help?"

"I figure some new stalkers could use some charity, that's all."

"Well thanks I guess."

"Anytime."

An hour passed as Yomi and Chiyo carefully treated the gunshot wound.

"Is that any better?" Chiyo asked.

"Yes." Sakaki said softly.

Tomo stood up. "Now that thats settled we should go see whats up with that weirdo who bought us this crap."

Osaka sat staring at her. "Didn't he just help us a lot though?"

"That's doesn't mean we can't grill him about something!"

She walked over to the stalker at the bar.

"Hey buddy!" She shouted for the whole bar to hear.

"Oh, hey." He said.

"Why'd you help us out so eagerly?"

"I thought I already explained that."

"Fine then whats your name?"

"... Okay then. Name's Nikolai." He said extending his hand.

Tomo snatched it immediately. "Takino Tomo at your service!" She said in her usual fashion of happily screaming her opinion without a second thought.

"Umm... sure." He said. He looked at her closer.

"Whats someone as young as you doing here in the zone?"

Tomo stopped shaking his hand as she realized what she was just asked.

"It's a long story." She said embarrassed. "But I need to make 900,000 rubles _and_ however much it costs to fly 6 people outta here."

"You want your entire crew out of here too?"

"Yup! Wait why is that such a surprise?"

Nikolai looked around. "You can't trust too many people around here. Mostly these guys'll leave you for the rats if it means a new gun or few bucks."

Tomo looked shocked at the statement. "Thanks for the tip."

"Anytime." Tomo began to walk away. "Wait!" Said Nikolai.

Tomo looked over curiously.

"If you need money I've got a plan."

"Why do you need us?" Tomo said.

"It's pretty dangerous for one person. But as long as _somebody_ is keeping an eye on whats going behind me... then it'll be a walk in the park."

"Really?"

"Yup. So what's the word?"

Tomo thought for a second.

"I'll go ask the others."

She squirmed through the people crowding bar to the others leaned against the wall to rest.

Yomi looked notice Tomo walk over. "Did he finally freak out and make you leave?"

"Uhh... no actually. He said that he has a plan to get all the money we need to leave."

Yomi's eyes eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yup he said that as long as someone comes with it'll be easy."

"Well there's 6 of us... this might be our ticket out."

"So we go with him?"

"Yeah go tell him we'll come with."

"Great!"

Tomo weaseled her way back to Nikolai.

"Hey! We've all decided to go with you."

"Great. Meet me outside tonight.

The group fell asleep for the rest of the day.

That night they awoke determined to leave the zone forever with whatever plan Nikolai had.

"You girls ready?" He asked as they walked up the stairs of the subterranean base.

Sakaki leaning against a piece of old pipe. "Ready."

Kagura looked over surprised. "Sakaki... y-your standing." She stuttered.

She nodded. "I can't run but I think I can still go."

Nikolai examined the wounded stalker.

"If you can't run then we'll make sure you aren't spotted to begin with." He said digging through a crate he left outside the bar.

"Here if you just stay far enough away they couldn't see you if they wanted to." He said handing her a massive rifle with a scope.

She looked at it amazed.

"You just want me to take this?"

Nikolai nodded. "It's called a dragunov SVD. Excellent gun I've tuned all the parts myself. Just take care of her."

Sakaki nodded.

Yomi looked at Nikolai. "Whats the plan?"

"Ok, we're going on an artifact hunt." He said pulling out a map. "We need to get here to a place called Pripyat." Pointing to the city. "It's been a ghost town since 1986 so it's gonna be a gold mine for artifacts and I hear that way below _this_ apartment, someone didn't just stash guns and artifacts... but gold and jewels."

Kagura looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"I trust the guy who told me... I didn't do anything to piss him off at least.

"Okay if your sure I guess."

"Now then, we cant just take off for the stash, we're gonna need some better weapons and armor."

He moved his finger back to the duty base on the map. "First we need to head west to Lake Yantar and meet up with some ecologist friends of mine."

Osaka looked at Nikolai. "You've here for awhile haven't you?"

"2 full years and counting. Now these guys'll definitely sell the stuff we need. The reason I need you is because to get to Yantar we have to go through this place." He said pointing to a train yard to the west.

"That place is full of blood crazed mercenaries."

Chiyo looked frightened at this point. "Are they really that dangerous?"

"You know it." Nikolai went on.

"If you guys are still set on going to that stash then we'll have to leave now."

They all nodded in response.


	6. Natural

To the left and right stood run down warehouses that were being reclaimed by nature and across a huge empty area without cover was a ripped up building supposedly filled with snipers.

"Nope I still don't see anyone." Said Kagura using the binoculars to see the building with whatever clarity was possible.

"Keep looking there was 4 of 'em last time I checked." Nikolai said clutching his g36 assault rifle.

"I don't think anyone's in there I've been looking for half an hour now."

"That's good then the sun'll set soon enough."

Tomo finally tired of waiting burst out of the safety of the truck they hid behind.

"HEY! IF ANYONE'S THERE COME ON OUT!"

Nothing but stillness wrapped the area.

"I guess that means its safe." Said Yomi, head still buried in her hands.

The team stood up and walked to the ruined building.

They entered the filthy building and still nobody was around to share their eerie experience.

"This doesn't look good at all." Nikolai announced "I used to check 5 mercenaries in that building and 3 of the bastards right here."

"So someone was here before us?" Yomi asked.

"Yeah and if I'm right were in deep shit."

"What?" Osaka said.

"Don't worry nobodies reported a dwarf this far from the power plant in years."

"A dwarf? Chiyo asked.

"Let's not put that thought in our heads for now."

They hopped over what looked a train stop onto the tracks.

As they walked just far enough from what could be cover a rain of gunfire rattled the stillness of the area.

Without thinking they took the weapons from their shoulders and scrambled for the nearby flat-bed car standing on the tracks.

"Watch it those are definitely mercs."

"How do you now?" Said Kagura readying her weapon.

"I'd recognize that caliber gun anywhere it's 5.56.

"So what do we do?"

"What do you always do?" Nikolai asked. "Shoot the fuckers!" He said pulling himself over the train car and opening fire.

"Gotcha." She said nodding.

The battle went on as mercenary after mercenary poured out of the unfinished concrete skeleton of a building.

A stone flew threw the air and landed by the teams feet.

It was a grenade.

"Shit! Screamed Nikolai grabbing and tossing the grenade.

An explosion echoed through the construction yard as the rock exploded in one of the mercs faces.

"Ooh that was a bad one." He said relatively unaffected by the traumatic experience.

"Wait wheres Sakaki?" Kagura said.

"And Chiyo-chan." Osaka added.

Suddenly 3 mercenaries flew backwards with incredible force.

"Look!" Yomi yelled pointing to a rusted trailer.

Sakaki layed on top of it, her new rifle in hand with Chiyo right behind her.

Chiyo pulled away from the binoculars and pointed to another mercenary and said something that was muffled by the gun fire.

Sakaki nodded and moved the rifle just so slightly and fired as another mercenary fell in a cloud of blood.

It went on for maybe 30 more seconds and all the gunfire ceased.

All was still until Nikolai broke in. "Damn Sakaki your a natural!"

She nodded quietly and stood up with Chiyo before hopping down to meet the rest of the group.

They moved along through comments of amazement before reaching a tunnel that seemed very warm considering it was early fall in Ukraine.

Tomo, the only one who didn't notice he that the veteran stalker Nikolai had stopped along with the others just kept walking.

"TOMO!" Yelled before grabbing her and shoving her away from the tunnel.

"What the hell man?" She asked.

Nikolai just gestured for her to wait as he tossed a rock into the tunnel.

Instantly it lit up with a jet of fire. "_That_ is why I stopped you. I don't know anybody who's ever gotten through there so we need to go over the tunnel." He said pointed to a bridge above the pit.

Tomo stood blushing as the others went on.

They walked down the road to the deadly still place called Yantar.

Devoid of _live _plant life it wasn't and inviting idea to have to walk deeper into it to the dull steel structure that layed in the dried lake bed.

"Well this looks familiar." Kagura said.

They arrived at the structure. Only two ecologist stood inside if their PDA was to be believed.

Nikolai walked to the professor on the far side of the building. "Hello." He said in his calm voice.

He walked over and greeted the stalker. "Hello Nikolai I suppose you need another job do you?"

"Not this time, I need 7 SEVA suits and 4 of your finest NATO weapons."

He walked back and grabbed all the gear. "Thats about 400,000 rubles in gear my friend where did you get that kind of money?"

"... Nowhere... I don't have that kind of money."

"Well I'm sorry Nikolai but this gear is expensive."

"Then just give us the guns and forget the suits please."

"Sure thing."

Nikolai coughed up all the money and handed out the weapons.

Kagura and Yomi had new lm300 assault rifles as Osaka and Tomo looked over brand new FN2000's.

Nikolai walked over. "Now that we have proper weapons we need some good armor... and I think I have a plan to get it."


	7. Raid

Tomo was asleep as peaceful as she could be.

She stirred just to the point of awakening when she thought the front door opened.

She dismissed the thought and snuggled back into her pillow.

Before she slipped back, another sound came.

"Hello?" She called. No response.

"Tora-chan is that you?" Still nothing.

She went back to sleep.

Suddenly a deafening crash jerked her to full-alert.

The door was blown off its hinges and 3 mafia "associates" stood in the doorway.

And she awoke in the ecologist bunker, her friends sprawled across the floor asleep.

"Damn... that dream again." She whispered to herself.

Soon she just passed back out.

--

That morning she woke up just a minute later than the others as usual.

They all sat around inspecting their weapons one more time before they left for what ever plans Nikolai had layed out.

"Ah good morning Tomo-chan." She turned around it was Chiyo sitting as cheerful as a young girl in the middle of a radioactive wasteland could be.

"Hi." Tomo said flatly.

She looked around quickly. "Where'd Nikolai go?"

Yomi not looking up from her weapon. "He went for a walk last night and found a truck that might work and he's gonna try to get it to run."

Soon they all got up and left for the door greeted with a less than courteous blast form the horn of a now working truck.

"Wow you really got that piece working?" Kagura asked.

"Sure did!" Nikolai called. "Now then, Im afraid there are only two seats so most of ya are gonna have ride in the back. So Sakaki, Chiyo pile in." He said waving his hand as if to draw them in."

"Why them?" Tomo asked.

"Cuz Sakaki is hurt and Chiyo is small."

They all moved to their respective spots in the truck and moved out in a plume of black exhaust and engine noise.

Without a problem they moved through the train yard they had cleared last night save for a couple mutant dogs that Nikolai dispatched in a "juicy" display.

Soon most of them fell asleep both in the back and in the passenger seats of the truck.

But the sleep didn't last long as the truck came to a violent halt.

"Chiyo, Sakaki wake up."

Chiyo rubbed her eyes. "Whats going on?"

"Follow me I'll explain in a sec."

The 3 walked up a water tower he was parked by.

"Alright now-" He was interrupted by a loud roar from what sounded like a lion.

Nikolai surveyed his mind for a second before coming to a startling conclusion, evidenced by his eyes suddenly dilating.

He leaned out the window "Guys!" He called down to the truck as the passengers looked up in curiosity. "In the box next to the cabin of the truck there are some shotguns, GET THEM NOW!"

He sounded serious so without another thought they ran for the crate and each grabbed a Winchester shotgun.

"Get to the door to the tower, go go go!"

Suddenly, although nothing stood by the door yet it moved violently.

Nikolai pulled away from the window. Several gunshots followed.

"It's clear. Everyone come see this."

They walked to the mid point of the stairs leading up the tower.

"This is a bloodsucker." He said kneeling over a dead humanoid creature with serrated tentacles growing from its mouth.

"What the hell?" Tomo said.

"Yeah these bastards have killed way too many people for my taste and are much more of a threat in this area since they're a lot more common."

"Why are they so dangerous... I mean they have those tentacles and those claws but why cant you just shoot 'em?" Osaka said.

"That's the problem you can't see them until they're right in your face because they're like chameleons. They almost turn invisible. Just look for the bright glowing eyes."

They nodded in response.

"Now, Sakaki Chiyo Come on lets go." He said walking up the stairs.

They stood by he window.

"Alright You got your gun?"

Sakaki readied her rifle and nodded.

"Alright see those towers in the distance?"

He pointed to an almost completely darkened valley.

But Sakaki was a natural for her position as a sniper and easily picked out the towers.

"Okay, in those towers are enemy snipers and we need to take the suits we need form them."

Chiyo stood slightly puzzled. "Why don't we just ask for the supplies we need?"

"Because they're not exactly friendly with me or pretty much anybody that isn't a member of their dumbass little club. But anyway here's the plan, you get rid of the snipers and the rest of us can storm the base and take the supplies we need. Got it?"

Sakaki nodded with a determined look on her face.

Nikolai went downstairs to the truck with the others waiting in the back.

They drove towards the base and stopped just out of sight of the front the gate.

He grabbed the radio. "Ready?"

"Sakaki seems ready." Came Chiyos voice.

"Alright start to take out the snipers."

Immediately, a stream of fairly quick gunshots came. Obviously Sakaki was pretty fast at finding, sighting in upon, and killing her targets.

Then the truck roared to life and charged towards the front gate of the walled warehouses that made the base of the "Freedom" stalkers.

"Get your rifles ready! And as soon as you can see 'em give 'em hell!" Nikolai called to the back of the truck.

In seconds bullets tore from the truck bed and toward the guards of the base.

Almost as soon as it started the guards fell to the ground.

The Freedom stalkers where completely off guard and had almost ignored the sounds of a work horse truck engine and gunfire.

But then as another Freedom fell to the ground they realized what had happened and grabbed their weapons to defend the base.

The truck stopped in the middle of an intersection in the damaged roads if only to get a better shot at the near by Freedomers who had only just managed to draw their weapons.

"On the right!" Nikolai called from the truck cab, a swarm of maybe 5 Freedom stalkers charging with some of the most powerful NATO weapons in existence.

Quickly they fired back at them.

Maybe it's because they where moving and the girls had a more accurate posture, but the Freedomers hit nothing but the hillside beyond the truck.

They sat still, weapons ready for a few seconds before realizing nobody else was coming.

Nikolai grabbed his radio. "Sakaki you see anything from up there?"

"No I only see you guys."

"Okay we'll be back at the tower in a few." He hung up and walked over to the truck bed.

"Alright we need to get inside that building." He said flatly as though tired from sleep deprivation. "So... Getcha Shit Ready!" Suddenly his voice exploded in volume.

They hopped down from the truck and moved toward the building.

In an instant a last determined soldier armed only with his "wits" and his gigantic M60 machine gun, leaped form the structure.

Without a word, and only a terrified gaze the 5 leaped behind a sandbag wall.

"You bastards'll never take me alive!"

Nikolai reached into his jacket pocket. "Is that so?"

He pulled out a grenade and tried to throw it over only to be held back by a seemingly endless stream of gunfire.

Osaka popped a golden, egg shaped object into the lower barrel of her Fn2000 before falling on her side and taking aim.

The man with the M60 hadn't taken notice.

She pulled the trigger and a grenade flew like a bullet at the gunman.

The explosion threw him and his precious gun in different directions.

They moved towards him.

Kagura spoke up. "Where's the armory?"

The wounded man looked up. "My name is Vadya." He said angrily. "And like hell I'm tellin' you!" He went on as he pulled a grenade out of nowhere.

As he tried to pull the pin Nikolai stomped on his arm with a sickening crack. "Fuck you." He said calmly before shooting him in the side of his head.

"OHH!" Came in unison from the 4 others.

"What? You guys've shot at least 20 baddies and that didn't phase you."

"Well yeah but we also weren't right there to see the goriest of it." Tomo said trying to cover the image with her hand.

Nikolai looked at the pool of blood on the tar. "Valid point."

They walked inside without another word.

"Okay let's just take a look around and take anything that could be useful. They sure as hell won't need it."

* * *

* * *

Author's Note _EXTREME EDITION_

Well if you are really a fan of this then I'm sorry it's been forever and a half since the last issue came out I know but I need my sleep these days more than I did in the summer and I do ALL of my writing in the dead of night where nobody reads over my shoulder without announcing their presence and scaring the shit out of me when they correct my spelling. But I will try to be a bit more frequent or at least consistent with the release of the new issues.


	8. Set Loose

Author's Note

* * *

Holy shit I'm about to reference another fan fiction that I've been reading. A lifetime of free 100 breathable air and a sense of personal accomplishment to whoever can figure it out.

* * *

Just another boring day at school, made even worse by poor Tomo with a very unusual sleepless night.

"Tomo you gotta stay awake." Kaorin whispered at the top of her lungs.

"Ugnhvm" She managed to struggle through.

"C'mon if you don't Yu-"

"Sit down and stay quiet!" Yukari busted in clearly hungover.

Kaorin realigned in her seat. "Too late."

"Now! If anyone says one damn word I'M GONNA-" Then she simply fell on her podium in a lack interest to continue.

The room lightened up, this obviously meant the class could just talk to one another provided they stayed in their seats.

"Ugh what a night I couldn't sleep at all." Said Tomo finally half-awake.

Kaorin looked over. "I've noticed. So what happened?"

"Me and Torako got in a fight and I lost. I was really sore."

"Whatever I'm just gonna talk to Osaka. She'll probably have another classic tucked away in her mind of insane theories. But you should get some sleep."

Tomo snored in response.

As another uneventful day passed Tomo, Yomi, and Osaka decided to walk home together.

"All I'm saying is the sun is too damn bright. It's gotta take breaks for food and sleep." Osaka tried to explain as they rounded a corner.

A remarkably average man stood between two enormous men in suits. All three stood right in their way and looked as if they intended to do so.

"... How's it going?" Osaka began. Yomi and Tomo stared.

The middle guy started. "We're lookin' for a little girl. Looks like this." He said holding up a picture looking as though it was taken from security cameras.

Yomi looked at Tomo in a second as Osaka stared blankly at the picture.

"What did she do?" Yomi asked.

"She stole and expensive little trinket from a friend of ours now have you seen her?"

Tomos hair had grown back just enough. She looked slightly different now.

"Yeah thats me." Tomo said hazily.

"The boss wants the money for the thing you stole. Your pretty lucky he's in a really good mood and isn't gonna charge interest."

"How much do I owe?" Tomo said as if she knew exactly what what was going on.

"4,000,000 Yen. Now I'll just take my money and we can call it a day."

At this Tomo woke up very quickly. "What?! I don't have that much money... What if I return that thing?"

"Not an option, the guy who wanted it was only paying that much, but now he isn't buying even if we get it back so its worth about as much a floor tile."

Tomo was silent.

"I can tell you don't have what we need. Okay then you have a month to get the cash or this'll call for something more drastic. It's been a pleasure."

With that the three shady guys hopped in some 80's luxury sedan and drove off.

The three others stood silent.

Yomi broke her stunned silence. "Tomo?" She said calmly.

"Yup?" Tomo said, mouth gaping.

"Why the HELL DID YOU STEAL FROM THE DAMN MAFIA?!"

"The mafia?" Tomo said stunned further.

Osaka shook her head. "You don't watch many movies do you? It's obvious, they had the suits, the car, the goons." She said counting on her fingers. "I could tell the second they showed up."

The others still blown away by the prior events had rushed home.

Tomo spent the rest of the day pacing in her room.

Yomi sat her desk thinking about what they would do.

Osaka as expected took a bath and fell asleep forgetting about most of the days events.

A month had passed and they had all but forgotten the traumatic events of that day.

All six had decided to walk home together that day when an unmarked van pulled up beside them.

The door slid open and the remarkably average man knelt in the van.

"Hello. I trust you have my money?"

"Umm... no I'm sorry." Tomo said weakly as she realized who the man was.

The mans eyes narrowed. "That's funny I could have sworn today was the deadline for my money.

"I know but... I didn't have a way to get that kind of cash."

"I don't like excuses." Man said in a calm anger.

Just then, the two goons busted out of the back door and trapped all six.

"And neither does the boss."

The rest is blurry but the next thing they knew they where tied up on a plane bound for Chernobyl, Ukraine.

They landed in a tiny runway in the middle of a cold, deathly chunk of northern Ukraine.

A man with a green flight jacket and headset for a radio stood up.

"You are here to pay a debt to me and my partners. Nothing else. Don't try to escape, you are all behind a gigantic cordoned area. Now get out there and make us proud." He said sarcastically.

They six where shoved out the side of the plane as it taxied back to take off.

A radio he handed to them at last minute began to crackle.

"He-- Hello? Is this working? A—er me if you can hear me."

Chiyo picked up the radio receiver. "We can hear you."

"Good now in the jackets we were so kind as to give you, you'll a PDA all you need to know is on that take a look when you get a chance."

"Wait, why did you take _all _of us here?"

"You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this way you can work together and make back all the money much faster."

The other radio hung up with Chiyo shortly behind.

"So what now?" Kagura asked only just now standing up.

Yomi reached in her jacket pocket. "Well he said all we need is on these things."

All the others did the same.

They touched the screen and it turned on to map of the area and a title simply stating "Meet the trader."

Beneath that a marker showing their position and another showing the traders position.

"He's not very far away." Said Sakaki almost to herself.

"It's just over that hill." Chiyo said pointing.

"What the hell let's go." Osaka said already at the crest of the hill.

Before long they arrived at a broken down village with a few people in jackets huddled around a fire as its only excuse for life.

"Excuse me. Wheres the trader?" Yomi began.

"Newbies huh? He's down in that bunker." He said nodding to a pair of doors in the ground.

They entered the dimly lit bunker and found an old man behind a counter lined with weaponry and ammo.

"Ah the new guys I heard about, come in come in." He said waving his hand.

"Alright here's your standard gear. Pistol, ammo, back pack, shotgun, more ammo, sleeping bag, and some only slightly moldy bread."

"But what do we have to do to make money?" Tomo asked.

"I'm getting to that. You have to sell shit or do favors for people of you want a profit. Speaking of which, I've got something I need done."

"What?" Yomi began.

"A stalker named Nimble is out on a raid to get something for me from some bandits and he's going to meet someone at the car park and it might as well be you."


	9. Change of Plans

After the soon to be infamous raid on the Freedom stalkers, the team reconvened in an old house just outside the battered concrete walls of the warehouses.

The majority of the team sat at an old dinner table that had all but fallen to termites when Tomo and Kagura walked in with arm loads of ammunition.

"That's the last of it," Kagura said heaving the fresh rounds onto the table. "What's next?"

Nikolai sat up. "Well we forgot one very important piece of equipment."

Yomi looked at the veteran stalker with borderline disgust. "What?"

"Yup we have to get all the way back to Yantar and pick up a psy-emission protection helmet."

Yomi leaned forward. "Why do we need that?"

"Well if we wanna get to Pripiyat we need to go straight past something called the Brain Scorcher. And before you ask they're an antennae array that turns stalkers like us into hideous shambling zombies."

Osaka slammed her palm on the table. "So that's what happened in the UFO!"

All anyone could do was sit and stare before silently agreeing not to ask about her story.

"So we need to go all the way back to the ecologist bunker?" Chiyo started.

"Looks like." Nikolai said standing up.

They all stood up and filed back into the truck.

"We're gonna sell some of this crap to the barkeep and pickup some less moldy rations before we take off for Yantar." Nikolai said before starting the beast of an engine.

They pulled into the Duty base and followed the familiar route to the subterranean bar.

Rather than a miserable, dank environment fit only for the scum of earth, they found a packed room with hurried stalkers spending their last Ruble to get ammo and guns.

"The fuck?" Nikolai said before muscling through the crowd and up to the barkeep.

"Hey whats going on here? It looks like all hells broken loose!"

The barkeep stepped away from the riot to address Nikolai.

"Haven't you heard ? A stalker called Marked One just shut down the brain scorcher and every stalker with a gun is on his way to the Power Plant.

Nikolai stepped back and then slammed down 10000 Rubles. "Gimme however many grenades and however much diesel gas I can get with this!"

The barkeep rang up the goods and Nikolai took off to the others.

"What's the story?" Tomo asked.

"We're going. Now! Let's move!"

Sakaki looked at him. "Whats happening?"

Nikolai didn't even stop moving. "I'll explain in the truck lets get!"

They piled in and peeled out of the bar.

"What's going on? Don't we need to stop at the ecologist bunker?

"Not anymore! Some guy shut the brain scorcher down and now we have a straight shot to the stash."

They flew down the road and quickly made it to the place known as the "Red forest".

Almost instantly the overall feeling fell from hurried celebration to ominous caution.

The sun had fallen beneath the cliffs to the west and the headlights where weak leaving only the first few meters in front of the truck visible.

Nikolai took a deep breath and shouted to the back. "Hey! There should be a pair of compact night vision goggle in your packs."

At once they reached into the packs and grabbed the devices.

Yomi looked the goggles over. "I don't remember picking these up."

"Just another donation from your friendly friend Nikolai."

"Thanks!" Yomi finally shouted back as she put the gear on her head.

"Wait to put em' on though. We need to save the batteries in those things."

--

Ten minutes of driving and the engine noise had almost disappeared, disregarded as nothing but white noise.

A low growl and the truck started to slow down.

Chiyo looked around to see if something was wrong or had changed. "Whats going on?"

"I'm not sure." Nikolai said a little uneasily. He simply pushed on the gas pedal harder and kept moving.

The vehicle still chugged.

Kagura leaned in the window. "What's happening?"

"We're slowing down obviously."

"Check the gas tank."

"No it's still a quarter tank. What the hell?

As the truck slowed to a stop a dark figure in a tattered trench coat stood in the road at the edge of the lights range. Holding his red, swollen hand he started to groan as though he was pushing something.

"What's that?" Osaka asked, peering over the truck cab.

Suddenly the figure lifted it's head to reveal a disfigured red face with glowing yellow eyes.

Nikolai forced his back deep into the seat and shook for a moment.

He shook his head and took a breath. "Get out! Get out of the fucking truck!"

Everybody leaped from the truck and hit the ground awkwardly leaving them to recover.

The figure shunted his alien arms forward as the truck crumpled into the shear rock walls of the forest.

"Kill him!"Nikolai shouted, reaching for his weapon.

"What the?" He went on as he realized his gun was still in the cab of the truck.

His befuddlement was quickly overcome with surprise as lead showered from behind him.

A painful groan and the figure fell to the tar.

"Where'd my gun go?" Osaka said.

"Mine too!" Exclaimed Tomo.

Yomi looked to the others. "You guys don't have your stuff?"

Nikolai brushed himself off. "You guys left em' in the truck."

"Are you sure?" Yomi said standing up.

"Yeah I left my gun in there too. I guess we're boned."

"So let's go get some more." Osaka suggested.

Nikolai pointed to the wreckage and cocked one eyebrow.

"Oh."

"Well let's get walking." Kagura said.

They didn't get far before a few 3 bandits can arrogantly waltzing down the road.

Nikolai started towards the brush to the side of the road. "Guys find a hiding place were gonna take their guns."

As the to-be victims approached Nikolai popped from the bushes and skulked behind the bandit in the center.

The man shuddered as Nikolai grasped him and held a knife to his throat. Other bandits immediately aimed their weapons at the stalker.

"Hold it!."

"Why should I?" Nikolai said.

"Cuz if you don't we'll stomp on your ass."

Yomis voice came seemingly from nowhere. "No. You won't."

The bandits put their weapons at their sides. "What do you want?"

Nikolai pulled one of the bandits closer to him. "Your guns. We need 'em if we're gonna get to Pripyat."

"Can't we cut a deal?"

Nikolai stopped for a moment. "How about this? We show you the same mercy you would show us. So we'll..." He paused to think. "Take your shit and leave you in a tree somewhere. You know... so you the dogs don't get to ya."

Just as he finished he planted his fist in the base of the mans neck.

He then moved to the others and did the same.

"Well we have some guns now. So we can head to the stash right?" Kagura said.

"Yup lets go."

Before long they had reached the city limits of Pripyat. They took one last moment to check the map.

"Alright. If this is the market... that's over there... we should be here." He said pointing.

"So we just head up this street cut through this building and we should right in front of the apartment structure." Yomi entered.

"Right but that place is probably crawling military. They got here _way _before us. So we just head into city pump station and take some of the maintenance tunnels straight to the apartment. That way we can avoid anyone who's here."

Tomo yawned and stretched as if trying to get in the way of the meeting. "I'm so tired we haven't slept since we got to the bunker in Yantar."

Nikolai shook his head slightly. "Here take one of these." He said pulling out a small white pill.

"What's this?"

"A caffeine pill. It should keep you going until we make it to the pump station."

Yomi stopped Nikolai's hand short. "You know what kind of a dumbass she is. If she takes a caffeine pill she'll be goin' berserk."

"It's better than her falling asleep in the middle of the road."

"I guess your right."


	10. The Treasure

The blocks of the city were grainy and tinted in a bright green from the goggled eyes of the team with only one goal in mind.

Leave Chernobyl.

"Ah I can't see with these goggles. Everything looks weird." Osaka said.

"Shh. We still have one block to cross and we can get in the pump station." Yomi explained.

They had made it through the city without a single shot fired. Save for the war being fought in the city not far from where they were.

Nikolai planted his handed on the door adjacent to him. "In here. We made it to the pump station."

Tomo who had been convulsing since she ate the pill couldn't stay quiet any longer.

"**Victory!**" She shrieked for the entire city to here.

Soon voices came from the darkness.

"The hell was that?"

"Let's check it out."

Nikolai stood up. "Damn it Tomo!" He said kicking the door open.

"Someone's definitely over there! Shoot on sight!"

Everyone sprinted full bore through the opening.

Nikolai threw the gun over his shoulder and ran for a near-by book case. "Sakaki! Help me out here."

The two shoved the hulk into the doorway.

A window broke out of the wall by them.

The voice from outside again. "Fire in the hole!"

A grenade arced into structure.

"Down the stairs!" Nikolai said already bolting for safety.

Time seemed to slowed down as the team sprinted down the stairs until the eventual explosion.

Soon fire licked the walls as pellets tore at the floor and furniture in the lobby.

"That got em'."

"Definitely. C'mon we still need to rendezvous with the sergeant."

Nikolai sat counting on his fingers.

"Alright they should be gone. Brilliant work Tomo."

"Sorry. Couldn't contain my excitement for another second." She cheerfully shrugged.

"Whatever. This should lead right into the tunnels. Lets just make a barricade for the stairs and sleep for the night."

"What? But I'm not tired."

Kagura looked over smiling. "Then in all fairness you get to build the barricade."

Yomi and Osaka opened laughed as the others only snickered.

Tomo reluctantly set to work as the rest slept.

/\/\/\

Morning. A few rays of brilliant orange sun had fell through the cracks in Tomos barricade, illuminating the room.

Everyone had slept undisturbed in the rubble-strewn basement even as Tomo worked.

Chiyo, as the first to awaken, had begun to wake the others.

"Please get up. It's morning and we have to get moving."

Soon the others had finally gotten out of the sleeping bags they kept and got ready for the day ahead.

Chiyo crawled over to Tomo. She finished the barricade and immediately fallen against the wall to sleep.

Nikolai looked over while stretching his arms. "No let her sleep for awhile."

"But we need to get moving as soon as we can don't we?" Chiyo asked.

"She was up all night making sure we didn't get another grenade in our faces so she gets to sleep."

"Okay."

Everyone sat, inspecting and cleaning their weapons until Tomo awoke in a sweat.

Yomi was the first to verbalize her thoughts. "Tomo what happened?"

Tomo slouched breathing heavily shaking her head. "Ne- Never mind I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Chiyo asked.

She simply nodded in response.

Nikolai smacked his palm on the heavy metal door in front of the tunnels. "Now that we're all up we can get to work on finding the stash." He paused and stared at the door. "Just think... 2 years in hell and it's about 2 days from over."

A gun cocked from a few feet behind him.

Kagura sat with her AK47. "Right behind you Nikolai."

The door opened with a punchy clunk. "Let's go."

/\/\/\

The tunnels dripped ominously with an even rhythm that gave a sense that the area was forbidden. Only made worse with the dank and musty scent that seemed to preserve the stillness that was left from the explosion of 1986.

Nikolai held his hand over his shoulder in a fist. "Hold on." He pushed a button an his PDA and reviewed the device for a moment. "Yeah we have to turn here."

Yomi looked around for a moment. "Where?"

There was only a single tunnel that surrounded a main water pipe, broken up only by pipes jutting from the wall that dripped a pungent green fluid.

"Here." He said pointing to one of the rusted pipes.

"_In_ these pipes?" Chiyo asked.

"Don't worry those suits are water proof and seeing as none you guys have caught a bullet they should stay that way."

A series of grumbles and sighs followed.

Osaka stepped to the pipe. "Let's go."

/\/\/\

A slopping noises emanated through the pipe as the 7 crawled through the space.

"Kagura your moving kinda slow whats up?" Tomo asked.

"I-I'm Just... a little bit claustrophobic." She answered.

Silence.

"Mph. Gmbphk. Bwa hahahahahaha. The great Kagura's claustrophobic! Hahahahohohoha." Tomo laughed.

"Excuse me all to hell for not liking the thought of getting stuck in a pipe until I starve!" She barked back.

"Can it dumbasses. You can argue when where not in such a small space."

Kagura bowed her head. "Your right lets just go."

About another 5 minutes passed. 5 minutes of crawling on their hands and knees in a 3 foot rusty chunk of pipe.

"Uhng" Nikolai exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Chiyo inquired.

"Ladies and gentleman... we have made it to the end of the pipe. I can feel the valve.

Yomi looked over Kagura who was ion front of her the whole time. "Valve? You mean hatch right?"

"Nope. If I'm right there should be a valve that opens into a boiler and from there we'll open a hatch that will let us into the building that has our treasure."

Kagura began crawling over Nikolai "I'm getting out of this pipe. Now!"

She turned around and threw her foot at the valve. The impact rang through the tunnel.

"Kagura stop that's not getting that thing open"

"Fuck that I'm getting out of here!" She kicked the valve again. This time it sprang from it's place and tumbled into the darkness.

"Damn. Nice one." Nikolai said.

"Thanks." She said scrambling towards the opening.

"Wait a sec Kagura. Thats an industrial complex so is got a pretty big boiler."

"Aahh!" Then a loud clunk as she hit the floor.

"You alright?"

"Yeah I landed on my feet. Sorta."

"Okay can you stand?"

"Yup."

"Alright help me down would ya?"

"Okay."

Nikolai jumped down as Kagura lit the boiler with her lighter so he could see.

One by one they filed down from the pipe into the boiler as the warm orange glow flickered against it's rusted sides.

Nikolai disassembled the hinge on the hatch and they climbed out of the boiler.

"Okay now the gold and shit should be a in the sub-basement. Down that utility elevator."

They stepped on and hit the button.

Loudly it chugged downward.

"Jeez you'd it would have hit the bottom by now." Tomo whined.

Yomi squinted through the grating in the floor. "Wait. Yeah I think I see it!"

Nikolai pounced on the floor. "He.. aheheehehe. Thats it. _That_... is it. We're fuckin' gone! We are gonna leave!"

They sat in the elevator celebrating for a moment until they reached the destination.

Glorious.

A massive underground warehouse stacked to the ceiling with mountains of gold, speckled with expensive looking jewelry.

They stood, stunned at the unreal sight in front of them.

Tomo spoke up after what seemed like hours staring. "Yomi?"

"Yes?"

"You still want 10 trillion yen?"

"Of course."

As if rehearsed to do so, they ran towards the piles of riches at once.

"Agh!" Came Chiyos startled voice.

Nikolai turned around in time to see a masked stalker club him with the butt of his gun.

Author's Note

Cliffhanger from hell eh? Don't worry chapter 11 is already in production.


	11. New Enemies

"Uss... eshhik" Involuntarily came his voice as he slipped in and out of proper vision.

"Heh. Huh? What? What!?" He said as he finally awoke.

Nikolai looked around the room.

He was his hand were tied to piece of dull gray pipe.

The same went for his new friends in the dimly lit room.

Everyone was propped limply in a small metal chair, hands tied to a piece of pipe hat sat near the ground and their feet latched to the front legs of their respective traps.

To his right sat Sakaki.

"Psst. Sakaki." He whispered as loud as possible. "**Get up!" **he went on.

She eased into reality. "Huh? Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. Some assholes took got us off guard when we went for the treasure."

"This isn't good."

"No kidding."

They paused to examine the area as they could help themselves.

"I'm lost. You have any bright ideas Sakaki?"

She shook her head.

The sound of boots clomping down a hall of concrete filled the room quickly.

The two stared at the offending door.

Two soldiers in massive dull exoskeletons swung through the door.

They wore gas masks that seemed designed to be unsettling and macabre as possible.

"Everyone wake up!" He bellowed.

At once everyone sprung to attention.

"Well. More flies to a light huh? More people trying to muscle in and take our shit?"

"What do you need with so much gold anyway?"

The stalker swung his hand and out and struck Nikolai. "Cram it! As you can imagine running a religion is expensive enough without the entire thing being militarized. So you can see why having a mountain of cash under feet can be useful."

Nikolai leaned back in his chair. "Monolith?"

"Praise the Monolith!"

"Why the hell should I?" Nikolai said defiantly.

He struck him once more. "We are the sword of the Monolith, the power that's been anchored to this place and the power that shall kill those who mock it."

"You're a cult."

"We're divine."

"Then why aren't you all perfect and beautiful?" Osaka interrupted.

The monolith stalker hit her across the face.

She began to scream and writhe in her seat.

Nikolai clenched his teeth. "You son of a bitch! I'm gonna kill you for that!"

Then a fist plunged into his stomach and forced him to vomit in his lap.

He began sputtering and coughing as the monolith soldier watched. "Pff. I'm done with this. You can spend eternity in here for all I care. As for me it'll only be a day or two before another rat runs into the gold mine."

He walked out the door arrogantly making fists and swinging his shoulders.

"Osaka? You alright."

She sniffled. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine."

"Alright. We need to get out of here now."

Tomo leaned forward. "How do we do that? We're chained up."

"Not the case over here he's got me tied up in ordinary rope. Who do they think they're dealing with?"

"You still need to cut it." Osaka said.

"Not a problem." He jerked his leg forcing a pocket knife to fall to the floor near his hands, he spent a minute picking up the knife with his third and fourth finger.

"Got it." He began cutting the rope.

Chiyo looked at the door. "Hurry Nikolai I hear someone coming."

The rope snapped. "Ha!"

Just then the door swung open revealing the man from before. He inspected the team for a moment. "Where's that guy you were with?"

Nikolai lunged from the back of the door a violently stabbed the knife into the monolith soldiers back.

He groaned and threw his elbow into Nikolai's forehead. He came back at Nikolai when he grabbed the soldier by his jacket and slammed his head in the heavy door.

Nikolai stood catching his breath. "Did you see that shit!?"

Yomi shook in her seat. "That was very skillful now please we need to get out somehow!"

"Hold on a sec."

He checked the body of the soldier for a key.

"I got nothin'."

"What? He's gotta have the key somewhere." Kagura said.

"Not a thing. I gotta go look for the key. I'll be back."

Chiyo leaned forward and cocked her head. "Nikolai wait. This cabinet all our stuffs in here."

He walked over and grabbed his AK-47. "Not exactly pro's are they?"

He stepped out of the door and readied his weapon.

Down the hall sat another stalker in the same tattered jacket and gas mask as the man he just slain. A keyring hung from his belt.

In front of him he reviewed some papers. He sat unarmed except for a machete on the opposite wall from him.

Nikolai stomped in to the room after closing the door behind him. "The key." He ordered. "Give it up."

The soldier went for his machete.

"Game over!" Went Nikolai.

The gun clicked without the satisfying response of a successful shot fired. Nikolai squeaked slightly.

The monolith stood malevolently. "Did you think we would leave you in the same room as your fucking ammo? We made those other mistakes so you would do this exact thing and we would have an excuse to kill you."

The man stepped to Nikolai making him put his fists up reflexively.

He swung the sword down vertically and Nikolai stepped out of the way. Then he placed his hand on the back of the soldiers head and forced his face into his knee with the muffled crunch of breaking bones and popping cartilage.

He then grabbed the machete and twisted it from the mans hand.

The monolith stood up and was greeted with his machete at his neck.

"Now. The key." Nikolai held out his hand.

He handed him the tools for their escape. He then turned the sword backwards and bashed the handle into the mans temple.

He snatched the key and ran to the rest of the group.


	12. Blockade

With the chains unlocked (or broken in the case of the more corroded handcuffs) they where able to try and leave the monolith base as wealthy, but above all else free people.

Nikolai sat counting out the rounds scattered on the floor. "OK, considering they stole the rest of our ammo... that leaves us with 24 9mm, 5 .45 rounds, and 52 7.62 rounds to last until we get the rest of our stuff back."

Yomi sighed. "At least we have our guns"

"Thats true." Kagura said.

"We should figure out where we are first." Chiyo began.

Nikolai got his PDA. "Well the satellite signal is out so we're underground, and it says our last know location was the pump station so where still near the gold storage."

"We'll need more than this to get out of here." Yomi said.

"We'll get some as we move through the base to find the main ammunition storage. We need a small squad who can get a as many kills for every shot they take. Sakaki you're with me, grab a gun and lets move."

She stood up and quickly toppled back over.

Tomo crawled over. "What's wrong?"

Sakaki grabbed her right thigh. "My leg."

They dug through her clothes to see the wound.

"Damn it's infected." Yomi said.

A thought occurred to Tomo. "Have we treated this thing since before we went to Yantar?"

"My god you're right." Nikolai said grabbing his hair. "It's been festering ever since I first met you guys."

Kagura looked up. "That was what? Almost a week ago?"

"Well all that stomping through the Ukrainian brush in the middle of an irradiated ghost town couldn't have helped." Nikolai said.

"Do we still have that vodka?" Tomo asked. "It's really high proof and it could sterilize this."

Osaka went to the locker. "Yeah. It's still here."

Chiyo stopped her for a moment. "Osaka we need an applicator, don't just pour the stuff the wound.

Nikolai tore off a section of the sweater under his Kevlar and leather jacket and wadded it into something that resembled a cotton ball.

Yomi stepped back. "Thats all we can do. Bandage it back up."

"We'll need someone else to help the attack." Nikolai said.

"I'll go." Kagura said.

Tomo grabbed her hand. "No. You can't stop shaking." She had been shaking since the monolith soldier stomped through the door and beat on Nikolai. "I'll go"

Nikolai handed Tomo the second AK47. "You're sure you can handle this?"

"Positive."

"Listen. One more fuck-up like outside the pump station, and it may be last mistake we make. Now are you _sure _you can handle this assault?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright."

/\/\/\

The halls split off in two directions. The right lead to the room or Nikolai's encounter with man who held the keys. The left was an unexplored maze of concrete halls lurking with brainwashed soldiers of the monolith.

Footsteps came from the left.

As he came passed them to the other room Tomo crept up and bashed the man with the butt of her gun.

Without another word they grabbed his ammunition and left for the new wing of the complex.

"Hold on." Nikolai said.

"What is it?" Tomo responded.

"My PDA is vibrating." He pulled it out to see the issue. "Satellite connection reestablished. Loading current global location. OK we're next to Vladnik Chemical Corperation. Which means we're just down the road from the warehouse."

"Hey I just thought of something." Tomo remarked.

"What?"

"Gold is heavy. _Really_ heavy."

"So?"

"So how do we move a fortunes worth of gold several miles through a ghost town of mutants and psychopaths with guns?"

"That's what the truck is for."

"What truck?"

He paused for a moment. "Oh. Right. We'll need to get a new truck."

"How about we go in style?" She said hinting towards a military outpost through a window, particularly the APC parked outside.

"Tomo you mad genius."

/\/\/\

They skulked onto the premises of the military checkpoint in the hopes of taking the APC without anyone noticing until in was too late.

Without a word they moved into the hatch and hit the front seat.

"Tomo get on the gun. I'll drive."

"This is a big engine you'll need to warm it up."

"It's ok they just shut this down so it should still run alright."

"Gotcha."

He started the engine and immediately rolled out of the area under a rain of hot lead.

"Go go go! Let's move!" Tomo screamed.

"I'm on it! Just keep em off of us! Use the fucking gun!"

"I heard you!"

The carrier lurched out of the alley the soldiers set up in and slowly but surly sped to an acceptable speed.

Tomo moved out of the gun and into the personnel space. Near the back sat a dark green box.

"What's this?" She called.

"I don't know. Open it."

She moved the cover to find a healthy cache of ammunition.

"It's ammo!"

"What's the caliber?"

She examined the boxes for a moment. "7.62"

"Perfect! That'll fit the AK's"

They darted back to their friend in the monlith complex. As they moved handfuls of ammunition to the team they held their breath and grimaced trying not to drop a box or make a noise. Before long they reached the holding cell.

"You made it!" Chiyo cried. "How'd the mission go?"

"Success." Tomo said uncharacteristically calmly, however quite self satisfied.

"Nice work guys. I heard a vehicle outside by the way. What was that?" Yomi said.

"Tomo got the idea to grab an APC from the military. It's gonna haul the gold out of here." Nikolai went on.

"It'll make a good ambulance as well." Chiyo added.

"By the way Sakaki. How's the leg?" Kagura asked.

"It's somewhat better."

"Wait." Osaka said. "Didn't you leave to find the ammo storage here in the base?"

"We got sidetracked but it worked out didn't it?"

"I 'spose."

"Well now we just load the gold and leave?" Kagura asked.

Nikolai looked over. "That's the plan, but when have our plans ever worked?"

/\/\/\

They carried Sakaki to the APC and stormed out of the building and drove towards the warehouse.

"Nikolai? You gotta stop up here." Yomi said.

"No I finally got one of these and I've always wanted to do this."

"Do what?"

Nikolai stomped on the gas and flew towards the door the warehouse.

"Stop. Stop! _Stop!_" Yomi screamed.

"No. No. No." Nikolai said manically.

The hulk crashed through the sheet metal doors. The sound could have woke the dead. Inside the APC there was a pause.

Everyone laughed and gawked at the vulgar display of power. Yomi however erupted. "What was that?"

"That was fun." Nikolai giggled.

"The whole town knows we're here now!"

"They'll think it's just another bomb going off. Now let's move. Tomo!"

"Yup?"

"You remember those ammo crates?"

"Yeah they're right back here."

"Get 'em we'll use them to move the gold out. Sakaki you stay here and guard the APC." He said tossing her a 9mm Beretta.

They descended the familiar elevator into the familiar room with the gold piles that seemed to have gotten bigger. As the monolith jumped out this time the team was ready and quickly shot the monolith without flinching.

They swept huge sums of gold coins and jewelry into the crates. Stuffing their pockets and carrying arm loads of priceless metal. As the crates filled and the team found themselves unable to carry anymore they stepped aboard the elevator. And dumped the contents of their hands, arms, pockets, hoods, and crates into the back of the APC. This continued once more before they warmed up the vehicle and stormed out of the city. Military, not realizing the vehicle was stolen, and all other combatants lacking sufficient weapons to attack such a target.

Nikolai grabbed a bottle of wayward vodka and took a swig as the rest celebrated as well, though not in kind.

/\/\/\

With the majority of enemy stalkers in Pripyat or at the power plant, the team had no trouble moving through the red forest. Their excitement had worn down and they now sat cautiously watching the ports on the side.

Soon they entered the old Cordon area and snapped the toll gate off at the hinge.

"It's time to go people!" Nikolai announced.

Everybody celebrated in the back until an explosion rocked the APC.

They recovered from their shell shock and realized that armored car was now on it's side. Groaning, they hauled their aching bodies from the floor.

Yomi rubbed her head. "What ju-" But suddenly the side hatch which was now above them, opened only to reveal a masked bandit.

Authors Note

Well... I'ts a new chapter. Sorry, I really released this half done but its up.


	13. Lucky 13

"Remember us you little assholes?"

"Who the hell are you?" Yomi said through her teeth as she rubbed her head.

"We're the 3... excuse me. 2 guys you left in the tree."

"Wait. There were 3 of you the when we took your shit." Nikolai said.

"Our friend Anikai got dragged off by a psuedodog. Looks like you called it you fucking prick. Now if there are no further objections. We will take _your _equipment and make for the plant after hanging you from that train bridge."

The second bandit stood up sporting a hideous scar across face revealing his teeth even while he closed his lips. "Yeah so all of you file into that house across the way so we can pack it all up."

The team silently stood up one by one and filed toward the red brick house.

Tomo leaded toward Nikolai's shoulder. "You got a plan?"

"You've got to know when fighting is just gonna get people killed Tomo. Just roll with it wait for a chance."

Their hands were tied with wire ties and were forced on the wall.

"Now I want you to tell me if there's anything sharp in here I might hurt my precious little hand on." The bandit said in massive arrogant sarcasm.

"I've got something for ya. Just drop the gun and untie me." Kagura challenged.

"Ha! You can stay right there and i'll take whatever I want whether you want me to or not. And yes I meant that in _every_ sense of what can be taken."

"Just for comment that you are going to fucking pay." She growled back.

"We'll see." He said grabbing her hair.

"Let me go. Ah. Please!"

"Oh shut up."

At that moment everyones vision went blood red as their heads throbbed with unexpected impact.

"What was that?" The bandit asked.

Nikolai who had sat stoic, eyes once closed until now sat at attention.

"Yo sparrow. You feel that?" The second bandit asked.

"Yeah."

The throb hit again this time followed by a low ring that lasted from 2 to 4 seconds.

Suddenly a visible shock wave washed over the bandits at chest level.

Suddenly everyone was violently slammed against the south wall of the farm house.

Nikolai screamed silently meanwhile the bandits were tossed out the window.

The building rattled and creaked without a single sound. Everything was simply drowned out by deafening rumbling.

Darkness...

/\/\/\

Tomo sat up in her bed in a sweat. She looked around to see her bedroom flooded with the glorious golden light of a summer morning.

She flopped back o her bed and began to laugh hysterically.

But without warning her body assumed an awkward and contorted position and she felt out of breath. She tried to move and was met with crippling agony. In a blink her pleasant bedroom morphed and twisted into a maze of brick and rock with only a tiny speck of light in her eye.

She tried to move again and only more pain surged through her arms. She mustered her strength and strained her muscles to sit up. Pain hit again again, constantly firing in an attempt to keep her locked in the mysterious cell.

She emerged shrieking in tortured pain to find the brick farmhouse had collapsed on her and her friends.

Dazed she felt herself picked up into a blurry, weightless, shocked state. When she awoke Chiyo was speaking to her in what seemed like a foreign language. One that was made up of indistinguishable drones.

Outside Kagura, Osaka, and, Sakaki were sifting through the rubble in a frenzied search for Yomi and Nikolai.

"Yomi-chan!" Osaka called to the lifeless heap of bricks.

"Please Osaka, Dig!" Said Sakaki in a very out-of-character manner.

They found Nikolai first. Dead in puddle a thick blood pouring from a massive gash on the back of his head.

Without a word Sakaki and Osaka began to cry as Kagura stood stunned at the sight.

"There goes your knight in shining armor huh?!"

The three turned around.

A bloody figure stood. The bandit.

"This time you don't get a blowout to bail you out."

Sakaki pounced at her rifle.

The bandits weapon sounded and her rifle was no more.

"What now?"

He began to step towards them, his weapon menacing from his hip.

The three closed their eyes as gunfire sounded.

They realized they still lived. But Kagura was covered in blood, and not hers.

"Yomi!" Tomo screamed from the damaged APC.

Yomi had taken upwards of 6 rounds to her chest

The bandit laughed and clapped his gloved hands. "What a fucking hero!"

More gunfire, but this time it echoed from the right.

There Tomo stood with a soviet heavy machine gun.

The bandit noticed he was hit and turned his gun to her.

Before the maneuver was complete she released a volley of fire and metal. And another. And another.

The bandit twitched and tweaked as the bullets tore his flesh.

A final barrage was spat at the man as until the weapon was empty and he was missing noticeable and dramatic sections of his person.

She ran toward Yomi with tears filling her eyes. "Yomi! Yomi-chan! Don't die!"

She rolled her body onto her back. Met only with a cold, dead eyes she stood up and walked to the APC.

Halfway there she collapsed and began to weep and sob.

/\/\/\

The planes engine of the droned on as the only sound.

Chiyo, Tomo, Sakaki, Kagura, and Osaka sat without a word. Their minds entirely taken by thought they sat in contemplation at the death of their friend Yomi and their Savior Nikolai.

They arrived back home, payed off the mafia, and anonymously turned the weapons and armor into the police.

Yomi's body was buried by the remaining stalkers in the a forest far outside of town. The site is visited weekly by the surviors.

Nikolai's ashes were strewn from the air into the ocean. Officially no record of the man "Nikolai Kerenchki" ever existed. With no family, he was remembered as a hero to the survivors of the incident.

The authorities deny such an event could ever happen and have written it all up as a "hallucination caused by a powerful mind altering drug". They each failed a test for LSD due to the genetic anomalies brought on by the massive doses radiation they were exposed to.

Their lives have never fully returned to normal.

/\/\/\

About time right? Well i'm sure you're all fairly disappointed and all about the wait and the result of it all but you're all still welcome to critique me with the fury of any god you choose. Sorry Yomi.


End file.
